It had been a week since the tour had started, and I was already tired, but in a good way… It’s just exciting to be back in a tour. My energy level was boosted up, and it was a thrill to get back on the stage. It was really a wave of sensation. It gave me a pleasant satisfaction at night to know that I actually caused some smiles on the people’s faces that I entertained. I walked towards the dance rehearsal room confidently and opened the door. I then smiled when I saw a familiar face sitting on top of the platform of the stage.

            “Hey, man! Glad to see ya!” I exclaimed.

            “Hey, J!” The figure started towards me. “How’s it going?” He slapped me a five.

            “Just the usual, you know how it goes Trace.” I chuckled. “Man, it’s great to see you. I was getting bored without anyone to hang around with.”

            “J, seriously, you have all these hot babes around you…” Trace checked out one of the dancers around him. “How can you get lonely?” He joked.

            I groaned. “You know what I mean… it’s just hard finding someone that you can confide in and trust. I can’t just spill my guts to anyone! The next thing you know, you’ll see them sell out my stupid stories and twist it around, for all you know to the tabloids!” He exclaimed dramatically.

            “I get it… I get it… So what seems to be the problem now?” Trace asked.

            I really don’t know what I’d do without Trace. Trace is my lifeline to the semi-normal world that he lives in. Besides that, he’s been my best friend ever since I could remember. I trust him with my life, and there’s no way I would still be sane and so grounded if he wasn’t there with me through it all. He’s been there with me through every step o the way.  He keeps me at my place and reminds me (with a smack on my head, not to mention) if I go all “superstar” on him or anyone else for that matter. He’s one of the few persons in my life who still treats me like a normal person, and not as THE JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. And I count my blessings for that because if I didn’t have him, then I know I’d definitely be one of the fake, stereotypical celebrities with a big ego. Even though at times I know that my head does get big as a balloon, and Trace seems to know exactly how to deflate my head into a normal headed size.

            “So, how’s it going with that assistant of Johnny’s? Last time we talked, you said that she was annoying or something.” Trace said.

            I looked around for her. “Good, she’s not here yet. I told her to get me some coffee and bring it here.” I sighed. “I mean she’s not annoying…. She’s just… I don’t know. She just seems to lack personality is all, and I guess that’s what’s so annoying about her. Most of the time I just hate that she has to follow me around and everything. It’s such an invasion of privacy. If she was cool to hang around with, that would’ve been a totally different story.” I said frustrated.

            “And she’s not fun.” Trace chuckled at my frustration. “I mean maybe she’s just really serious about her work, and she doesn’t even know you… It takes some people a long time to open up to strangers. And you are practically a stranger to her.”

            “Yeah, but still, it’s still just a hassle. And I’m not asking her to tell me her whole life history or anything…”

            Trace interrupted. “But, Justin, did you actually try to talk to her and make it comfortable for her to be around you. And why is this bothering you so much anyway? Just don’t let it get to you. Think of other things, and surround yourself with people that you actually like.”

            “You just don’t get it man. You’ll see when you meet her. You’ll be faced with bombardments of awkward silences.” I cringed at that notion.

            Trace laughed. “It can’t be that bad. And I think I’m gonna like this girl actually.”

            “What makes you think that?” I questioned.

            “Any girl that doesn’t seem to fall in awe for you, is okay in my book.” He said evilly.

            “Man, whatever. I see her coming. That’s her with the cup of coffee in her hand.” I pointed at Dina to Trace. She was walking quickly and rapidly. She had a cup of coffee on one hand, a pad of notes on the other, and a cell phone clutched under her ears and shoulders. She seemed annoyed. As she entered the room, her eyes seemed to search for something. I guessed that she was looking for me. Her eyes finally found me, and she stepped towards me.

            “Yes, Mr. Johnson. I’ll get back to you about that, after I run it through with Johnny of course.” I heard her ending the conversation with the other person at the end. “Bye, and have a good one.” She sighed exasperated.

            “Here’s your coffee, Justin.” Dina smiled and handed me the cup.

            “Thanks, really appreciate it.” I smiled back.

            “Not a problem, just doing my job.” She looked down at her notes. “So, you’re choreographer still didn’t arrive?” She wondered.

            “No, not yet. He should be there in like five minutes.” I glanced at my watch.

            “Oh, okay.” She cleared her throat, I fidgeted.

                        I looked over at Trace. “Hey, Trace, this is Dina. And Dina this is Trace. He’s going to be with us in this tour.”

            “Yeah, Johnny filled me up on it.” Dina nodded. “Anyway, hi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Dina stuck out her hand.

            Trace accepted with his. “Good to meet you, too. So how’ve you been liking it so far, even though it’s just been a week?” Trace asked her nicely.

“I like it so far. It’s just so busy. I never imagined that tour life could be so hectic.  I really don’t know how Johnny manages to handle all of this stuff. Not to mention, how Justin can live with some of the crazy schedules that he has to put up with. But it’s really a great experience. I thought I would’ve hated working here because…” She then cut off, and seemed to wander off into space. She seemed to get lost into her own thoughts. She seemed vulnerable at that moment, and her eyes looked so far away, certainly far away from us. It seemed as if she had forgotten that we or even that she was in this room, and she was in a world that was only her owns.

“So why did you think you were going to hate it here?” I decided to interrupt her thoughts.

“Huh?” She blinked getting back to our conversation. “Oh no, it’s nothing.” She said slowly. “You know, just packing my stuff and coming to a new place and meeting new people. That’s all.” She sighed.

“Oh okay.” I said.

“Well, don’t worry about. When I first came on tour with Justin, I was kind of scared too. I didn’t know if I was going to fit in. And the whole environment of a tour, it’s kind of unsettling almost. It’s entirely different from what I knew, and most likely it’s different from your life and your habits.” Trace comforted her.

“Yeah. I can’t believe I’m still here sometimes. It’s just so unlike me to do this.”

“So, why did you?” I asked bluntly. “Sorry, I meant, like if it was so unlike you, what was the change of mind, what made you come here?” I asked curiously.

“My best friend actually. She thought that it was a good idea for me to do this.” She said honestly.

“Oh, I see.” I cleared my throat.

“Don’t worry, Dina. After awhile, you’ll get adjusted, and in no time you’ll want to be back again.” Trace assured.

“Thanks.” Dina smiled gratefully. “Hey, I think that’s your choreographer coming in, Justin.”

I looked at the direction Dina was pointing at and nodded. “Yeah, that’s him. I better start stretching. He looks kind of pissed of… which means he’ll probably be working us like animals today!” I groaned at the thought of a hard workout. I really wasn’t in the mood for that today.

“Sure, I’ll probably be sitting somewhere over there. I’ll see you later.” Dina walked off.

When she was a safe distance away from us, Trace nudged me. “She didn’t seem so bad to me, man. I think you’re really disillusioned about her.”

“Man, just you wait until you’re alone with her. Then you’ll notice. I better get started.” I sighed.

“Alright. I’ll catch ya later.” Trace headed to where Dina was sitting. He seemed determined to show that I was wrong about Dina.

I sighed, and shook my head, and prepared to face a brutal death of a workout.

~

            I stretched my arms, and grabbed my stuff, happy that the rehearsal was over. “Finally!” I knew that Rob was going to give us a hard workout, but I didn’t realize that it was going to be this much. My stomach grumbled, and I was ready for something to fulfill my stomach’s needs.

 I looked around for Trace. My eyes landed on him. Much to my surprise though, I saw that both Trace and Dina were comfortably sitting next to each other, and it seemed from afar that they were actually having a conversation. Couldn’t be, could it?

I hesitantly drug my body towards the two figures. When I came closer, it seemed that they were both laughing about something. Trace seemed to be enjoying himself, and comically moving his hands around emphasizing on whatever the two were talking about. They seemed too comfortable. It was strange seeing serious Dina so at ease with his best friend. Why was it that she never seemed to be like that with him?

I cleared my throats, attempting to get their attention. When it didn’t work, I decided to speak up. “Hey guys!”

“Hey, Justin.” Trace laughed.

“Hey, you done with practice?” Dina said still chuckling from her and Trace’s conversation.

“Uh, yeah.” I said with unease. “Umm, Trace, did you want to get a bite to eat from the cafeteria?”

“When do I ever say no to food?” Trace exclaimed. “Hey, Dina, you wanted to join us?”

I was astonished that Trace would actually invite her. Unfortunately I couldn’t say anything. “Yeah, Dina you should join us.” I lamely repeated.

“Sure, let me just make a quick phone call. Why don’t you go ahead, and I’ll meet you there?” Dina agreed.

“Sure.” Trace said. “See you in a few.”

“Yeah.” I said, and waved as she wavered off with her cell phone. Her and her cell phone… She must really love that thing.